In wireless communication such as wireless local area network (LAN) communication compatible with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard series, a large number of setting items are set before use.
Examples of the setting items include communication parameters necessary for wireless communication, such as a service set identifier (SSID) serving as a network identifier, an encryption method, an encryption key, an authentication method, and an authentication key. It is time-consuming for a user to set all the parameters by manual input.
Accordingly, various vendors have developed automatic setting methods for easily setting communication parameters in wireless devices. In the automatic setting methods, communication parameters are provided from one device to another device using a procedure determined in advance between connected devices via messages so that the communication parameters can be automatically set.
NPL 1 discloses Wi-Fi Protected Setup (hereinafter referred to as “WPS”), which is an industry standard protocol for automatic setting of communication parameters between an access point (base station) and a station (terminal station).
In WPS, since the roles of communication parameter providing device (hereinafter referred to as “providing device”) and communication parameter receiving device (hereinafter referred to as “receiving device”) are defined in advance, the transfer direction of communication parameters is uniquely determined.
In a case where the roles of providing device and receiving device are not defined in advance, however, it is difficult to uniquely determine the transfer direction of communication parameters. In this case, the user's selection of which device acts as a providing device and which device acts as a receiving device may cause a problem of poor usability.
For example, it is assumed that a new device joins a network that has already been established between a plurality of devices. In this case, it is desirable that the new joining device act as a receiving device and receive communication parameters of the established network. However, since the roles of providing device and receiving device are not defined, the new joining device may become a providing device. In this case, other communication parameters are provided from the device newly participating in the network to the participant devices of the network to prevent the devices from performing communication over the network they are participating in.